Nungari Mwangi, (Kenya, UWC Atlantic College, 2004-2006), was on May 23rd 2016 recognised as the winner of this year’s Andrew E. Rice Award for leadership and innovation by The Washington Chapter of the Society for International Development (SID). This award, established in 2003 by Andrew E. Rice and Robert Berg, honours leadership, innovation, impact and commitment demonstrated by a young professional in international development. The awarding committee was highly impressed and moved by Ms. Mwangi’s personal qualities of empathy, respect, and solidarity with the poorest and most marginalized. The extraordinary development projects she has undertaken in the field, in very difficult settings – South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Northern Kenya made her the obvious candidate for the award. “…She brings some truly remarkable intellectual gifts and hard-earned skills to her work and her thinking; in short she exemplifies all of the qualities of an outstanding young leader,” commented Chloe Schwenke, Chair of SID-Washington’s Rice Award Committee.
Ms. Mwangi shows tremendous promise for advancement in international development and recognizes its importance as a means of service to those who are most in need. She has worked in both the public and private sectors as a researcher, a humanitarian field worker, a teacher, and more. Her passion for development is centred around organizing community-based solutions owned and driven by the least privileged.
A Precious Blood Secondary School, Riruta, alumna, Nungari earned her IB diploma at UWC Atlantic College in Wales in 2006. Her UWC experience was a unique eye-opener. It inculcated values of social responsibility and community engagement. It is here that her passion in the field of International development was ignited. She then proceeded to Brown University where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science (International and Comparative) in 2010 before graduating with a Master’s degree in Philosophy, Development Studies from the University of Cambridge in 2014.
Nungari has previously worked as a Development Consultant for Dalberg Global Development Advisors in Nairobi, primarily focusing on agriculture strategies with the public sector. She has also worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture in both Tanzania and Sudan. She is currently working towards her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, where her research is on the institutional dynamics governing the distribution of benefits and costs for local development along the Kenyan flower value chain.
